


The Birds and the Bobcats

by oleanderedits



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Bobcat!Daryl, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Misunderstandings, Raven!Jesus, general silliness, get-together, might make a series of this, shapeshifter AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 17:50:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14062191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oleanderedits/pseuds/oleanderedits
Summary: Jesus tries to get Daryl to understand that he wants to be in a relationship, but it's Jesus that fails to understand what's needed to get him there.





	The Birds and the Bobcats

The language of birds wasn't as easy to pick up as the language of cats or dogs or creatures similar to them. The four legs and expressive tail and ears tended to take the difficulty out of translation when it came to applying intent since that was where most mistranslations and misunderstandings were born from. And it showed every single time Jesus tried to flirt with Daryl while in his Raven form. Which was often.

Except, of course, for the fact that Daryl seemed to misunderstand his intentions every single time. He got the important bits across just fine: warnings about walkers, buildings to watch out for ahead, potential places to loot, that sort of thing. But jokes and attempts to show proper flirty mating signals went right over the the damn bobcat's head.

It was frustrating in the extreme because while he could flirt with Daryl as a human - and totally did - Daryl never acted like he understood that he was being flirted with. Always just looked at Jesus like he couldn't figure out what the point was. He hadn't asked around about it, but he'd managed to pick up that Daryl had lived a hard life back Before. He clearly wasn't much of a social butterfly. So he probably didn't have a lot of experience in the field of finding or attempting a relationship. And considering Jesus' own track record with boyfriends, well, he didn't have much of a leg to stand on for keeping a relationship going after getting it. But at least he knew how to get it.

Or he used to. Daryl was quickly disproving that once undisputed fact.

And it wasn't that Daryl wasn't interested, either! If that had been the case, Jesus wouldn't have put as much effort into these displays as he had. But Daryl was very clearly interested in him. The language of cats, even non-domesticated cats, was much harder to mistranslate. Daryl showed every sign of wanting to be something other than a friend, particularly when he let his instincts take over and became the bobcat.

He often circled Jesus if Jesus was on the ground and initiated play that ended in rough and tumble pouncing with Jesus under him and Daryl holding him down with paws that had the claws oh so kindly put away. He'd purr loudly and headbutt a bit before getting up and crouching down, butt wiggling in anticipation of Jesus doing the pouncing the next time around. All things he didn't do with his family. Sure he'd headbutt them in affection, but when it came to play, he tended to roll on his back and invite them to try and pet him or bring an interesting toy over to maul next to their legs where they could see him do it but woe be to any who attempted to take it from him! And he'd purr when he was calm enough to accept some physical affection. But he didn't really get physical with them in the same way he did with Jesus

All of which was never addressed when they were human. Daryl just didn't seem to get that Paul was responding to his feline flirtations. It all went over his head. Jesus had really hoped that since he was more responsive as a bobcat, it'd be easier to communicate his own intentions right back. But of course it hadn't and every attempt at big courtship displays of aerial ability or bringing of trinkets or even the occasional attempt to respond in bobcat speech with pouncing of his own just ended with Daryl's ears laying back  or obvious confusion or outright anger with a low growl of warning given.

Jesus ended his current attempt to impress Daryl by landing on a branch hanging low to the ground where Daryl could easily climb it if he wanted. Bobcats weren't very talented jumpers, but they could climb just fine. Daryl's tail had been twitching weirdly during the last half of the display and Jesus figured if the display wasn't working he might as well get back to the task at hand: tracking that damn deer.

He fluffed his feathers a bit while Daryl's weight bent the branch and the cat came in close. A headbutt to Jesus's side, causing him to have to hop a bit to maintain his balance, was his greeting. A heavy purr accompanied it. Jesus counted that as a win. It meant his attempt hadn't been misinterpreted as an insult or something so completely unintelligible Daryl felt he was being made fun of. A better outcome than most so far. 

Daryl settled onto the branch, feet curled up under him, and let his half-lidded eyes blink slowly at Jesus in expectation. Jesus hopped back toward him. Close enough to dart his head out and let his beak dive into the tuft of fur on his cheek. A quick movement followed by a second one and a soft squawk that came with the ruffling of feathered wings. Translating to a frustrated ' _Lost the deer in the canopy. Tree coverage too thick._ ' 

A rumble of understanding rolled out of Daryl's chest followed by a long yawn as he made to hop over Jesus and climb higher into the tree. He settled on a branch high enough up to keep walkers off them and stretched. His claws popping out for a moment as he arched his back before he made himself comfortable. Translating to a reassuring: ' _We'll pick the trail back up after I've slept. Don't worry about it._ '

Jesus let out the bird equivalent of a sigh and launched himself into the air. One really annoying thing about bobcats were their sleep schedules. Up at dawn and dusk and feeling the urge to sleep at noon and midnight. And it was getting on til noon. He'd be out for a few hours at least. Maybe that was why he hadn't reacted poorly to the display: he'd been too tired to care.

...still a win.

*********

"Why don't you just tell him outright and be done with all this bullshit?" Maggie asked him, not in the mood to entertain yet another frustrated gab session revolving around Daryl's inability to understand he was being flirted with.

"Because I'm pretty damn sure it won't go over well," Jesus answered, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. They'd gotten back from the hunt - successfully! - a couple days before and while he had a single win under this belt, it seemed his luck had been spent on that single incident. Every other attempt after had been met with the usual confusion and once with a full out hiss. He hadn't been hissed at since the day they'd met and Daryl had grabbed his gun and punched him while they tangled in the cab of the ill-fated truck.

He titled his head back and gave his best puppy-dog eyes, "You told me to try, Maggie. I'm trying. He's only responsive when he's the cat. And only occasionally can I even get close to the right phrasing to respond to it without setting him off."

Maggie let out a soft puff of air, her lips pressing together, and he could see her give in. She ducked her head and crossed her arms, "You said you've tried courtship stuff. Have you tried just... giving him affection back? I don't know, preening him?"

"I-" Jesus opened his mouth and shut it a moment later, cringing a little, before shaking his head, "I would, but he does that with his family. A lot. Groom them... you... there's a good possibility he'll read it as me wanting our relationship to be more familial than friendly or... or romantic."

After second's pause he added: "He's never attempted to groom me the way he has with you. He licks a couple times, but then he gives a soft bite or headbutts and then tries to get me to chase after him and play."

Maggie answered with a low 'mmm' and a nod while she moved over to the window to look outside. A frown creased her forehead as she gave it some thought. Eventually she asked, "And he doesn't respond to you leaving him gifts?"

"Not even the shiniest of them! I can understand having no interest in some of the buttons, but the bottle caps? I made sure those were clean enough to give a reflection!" He huffed and ran his hands through his hair, "And before you ask, I've stayed away from sticks and twigs and anything to build a nest with. I've stuck to things he might actually like."

"What about useful things? Bottlecaps are great, no one's saying they aren't," Maggie reassured him, hand up to stay his voice when his head whipped up, expression already offended at the implication that shiny bottlecaps didn't have value. "But he doesn't have much use for them except to hoard them. Daryl tends to like things he can find more than one use for."

If he'd had feathers at that moment, they'd be puffing up, but as it was he could only give a slightly betrayed and disgruntled look to his friend before dropping his head back into his hands, "Tried a couple of those and he just nodded and said 'thanks' then went back to what he was doing."

"But he kept them, right?" Maggie pressed, turning from the window to look at him with raised eyebrows.

Jesus nodded and shrugged, "Yeah. But he's kept everything I've given him. None of it's treated as special. It's just... there."

"He still keeps it. That means it means something to him. Daryl isn't the sort to keep things that don't have a lot of use unless they mean something to him. I know it doesn't seem like he's responding, but he is. Just... in his own way. You're not going to get much more out of him without a little prying."

"I just don't want to scare him away. If I push too hard... I feel like I've already had to start over more times than I can count. If he wasn't all over me as a bobcat I would have quit a long time ago."

Maggie moved over to his side, her legs coming into view through his fingers. Her hand came to rest gently on his head, fingers combing through his hair, rubbing at the base before pulling backwards. Preening him despite the lack of feathers. He admitted to himself that it was effective in calming his nerves the way she likely intended.

"Have you tried being more... feline... with your responses as a human? I know that's harder for you, but you've tried mimicking him as a bird and that hasn't worked..."

"I'm not going to play fight with him as a human. That'd just be weird. Him all furry and small and-"

"No, I meant... with you both human. He does that headbump thing when he's a cat. Says hello that way. Do that him while he's a human."

Jesus let his hands fall away and turned to look up at her, frowning in confusion, "You mean... like a regular cat?"

Maggie smirked down, "Sure. Why not? And preen him. I'm serious about that. He might groom everyone, but you don't preen anyone except yourself. I think he'll start to understand. And if he doesn't? Just take a chance and state it plainly. Glenn asked me to have sex on our first run and I knew him all of a day at that point. You two've been dancing around each other a lot longer than that. So go for it, okay? The worst he can do is reject you."

*********

He didn't go right out and heed Maggie's advice. Daryl was still being hissy with him about whatever he thought Jesus had said after they'd caught the deer. Glaring at him when he came near. Giving low growls in the back of his throat when Jesus passed too close and he wasn't sure of the intentions of the action. He must have come across as really aggressive or insulting to get that kind of treatment for the next week. Even accounting for Daryl's ability to hold a grudge.

Eventually Daryl calmed down, though, and they settled back into the usual routine. He was still wary, but he was getting friendly enough that Jesus felt safe approaching him without clear warning and chatting him up. Maggie did her best to help smooth the process by pairing them up for more than just runs: garden care, construction, watch shifts. Daryl didn't question it, but he was visibly annoyed for the week and change by having extra time in Jesus' company.

It was another week after that, that Jesus attempted some casual physical affection. Daryl was reading in the trailer, stretched out on the couch. He did that in his off time and it was nice seeing him make use of the stacks and stacks of books scattered about. They were Jesus' collection and he guarded it as fiercely as the stash of shiny bits he found as a raven, but they were the sort of things he liked to lend out, too. Enjoyed seeing others appreciate them.

He came up behind Daryl's head on his way to the bathroom and paused, leaning over to have a look at the text and figure out what book it was. Daryl glanced up at him briefly and then went back to his reading. No tension or suspicion. Calm. Okay with Jesus being there. That was good. 

Real good.

Because after a second or three of looking at the book, Jesus very slowly and carefully, settled the tips of his fingers on Daryl's head. The reaction was instant. Daryl went still, stiff. His breathing stopped after a quick, short intake of breath that he held. 

Jesus' first instinct was to pull his hands away, and it might prove to be the better call, but he forced himself to keep his fingers light but still against Daryl's head. He folded them slowly together. Not quite scratching, not quite rubbing. When he flexed them open again, he moved them towards the center of Daryl's head and began gently rubbing at the base of his hair, then pulling back in a finger comb. Both hands working on the same bit of roots before brushing away and moving to another spot.

Daryl was still pretty stiff, but he could feel the man relaxing as confusion took over. About a minute of this passed and then Daryl murmured gruffly, as if afraid to ask for fear of feeling stupid by the answer, "What're ya doin'?"

"Preening you," Jesus answered, voice equally as quiet.

"...I ain't got feathers."

"Nope," Jesus agreed, not stopping.

Daryl went silent and Jesus continued his actions for the next half hour or so because Daryl wasn't objecting or telling him to stop. He even relaxed into it a bit near the end, his reading forgotten for the time being. Book settled on his knee while his head leaned back and his eyes drifted shut. When Jesus stopped, he let his hands fall to either side of Daryl's head. Gave the man time to blink the stupor away. Then he dropped his own head forward to press his forehead to Daryl's. A quick count of three before he pulled away. Enough time to make sure it meant something, but not enough for Daryl to freak out over it. Then he headed out the door of the trailer, saying nothing further, but hoping his actions translated well.

*********

The next time Jesus tried something, he greeted Daryl by pushing his head up under the man's chin and rubbed against it for a second, shoulder turned into his chest. He knew cats did that sometimes, but he wasn't sure what exactly the action translated to. However, in bird, it usually meant ' _I like you, I trust you, I love you_.' It also had an element of reassurance to it and sometimes a request to be preened. Daryl stilled at it, of course, but he didn't freeze up entirely. When Jesus pulled away, he was given a strange look, like Daryl couldn't exactly place what was being said.

He stared like that for a long moment, eyes narrowed, before cautiously responding with a short headbutt against Jesus' shoulder. The sort he'd give his family when going in for a hug. But he pulled away too fast for it to be a request for one. When he was standing straight again, one of his thumbs found it's way to his mouth and he started chewing on it, still giving Jesus that odd look.

Jesus did it again the next time they parted and when the met up, a third time. By the eighth time, Daryl seemed to have accepted it as just what Jesus wanted to do. And after they'd done it so many times Jesus lost count, he'd even began to initiate it: giving Jesus little shoulder headbumps before Jesus had a chance to get his head under his chin. But still giving Jesus time right after to do so. 

*********

Once they were back on good terms, Daryl returned to his playfulness as a bobcat. Jesus did his best to respond appropriately, but he didn't engage with Daryl once Daryl was off him and inviting him to come after him. Not for some time, anyway. He didn't want to ruin a good thing. Instead he'd just start preening himself, one of his wings usually, or his back, and waited until Daryl came over to rub his head against him and purr before continuing on their way.

He waited until they were on a longer run, one where they were expected to be gone at least two weeks, before he attempted a different response. He let Daryl tackle him and play as a bobcat, but when Daryl moved off and curled himself up in wait for Jesus to chase after him or pounce him the way another cat would, Jesus instead shifted into human. This caught Daryl off guard. His ears went forward and he lifted himself on his haunches, tail twitching wildly. 

He shifted himself and opened his mouth to ask what was up. But he only got to 'Wha' before Jesus tackled him with a grin and the man let out a sound akin to a squawk in surprise. They rolled a couple feet and Jesus let himself roll off of Daryl, then crouched down and began shuffling to one side. Imitating Daryl's habit as a bobcat. Daryl lay on the ground where he'd landed, arms limp near his head, eyes locked on Jesus while he took some heavy breaths and tried to figure out what was going on. He rolled over onto his knees cautiously, gaze never leaving Jesus. Jesus let him. He wanted Daryl up on his feet, or mostly so, before he went after him again.

Daryl's balance shifted from his hands and knees to his feet and Jesus pounced. This time Daryl was ready for the attempt at a tackle and spun to the side, grabbing Jesus around the waist and using his momentum to toss him to one side. Fortunately he seemed to have caught on this wasn't Jesus trying to hurt him in anyway and the toss wasn't hard enough to cause injury when he landed. As soon as he was on the ground again, he turned and started to circle Daryl once more. Daryl's eyes were narrowed at him, but his tongue was coming out to lick his lips and his head was tilting in interest. If he'd still been the cat, his ears would have been perked. Jesus could easily picture it. 

The other man shifted his weight and started to move in tandem with Jesus, circling in the same direction. Keeping pace. Waiting for the next pounce. But now that he had Daryl's attention, he wasn't going to jump. He was going to wait until Daryl got so fed up with waiting he'd do it instead. He didn't have to wait long. Daryl was primed for this sort of play before the shift and shaking that sort of instinct off immediately after took a little effort. Effort he wasn't putting in.

Jesus read Daryl's 'attack' long before it happened. Even as a human his body language held certain tale tell signs that Jesus had long learned to read. He didn't bother to try and dodge the tackle. He let Daryl take him down and roll with him until Daryl was holding him down by the shoulders, knees on either side of his stomach, teeth against his neck just tight enough to hold on, but not enough to hurt. Jesus surrendered to it, body going limp. When Daryl pulled his head up, he looked confused, but interested. When he made to pull away, Jesus' hands shot up to grab his biceps and hold him there.

He took a couple deep breaths and grinned, "You caught me."

Daryl's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward to bump his forehead against Jesus', pushing off of him and breaking Jesus' hold as he stood up, eyebrows shooting up, "Yeah, but you still ain't tried to build a nest."

Jesus pushed himself up onto his elbows, surprise and slowly dawning realization keeping him silent as Daryl walked off. The one gift he'd been avoiding was the one Daryl wanted. It was proof he wasn't just playing around in the language of birds.

He scrambled to his feet and jogged to catch up, "When we get back I am building you the biggest, shiniest nest. It's gonna be filled with nails and nuts and bolts and tin foil and so many bottle caps!"

"...it don't need to be that sparkly."

"It absolutely does!" Jesus gasped in excitement, "We should find a bedazzler so  _everything_ can be shiny!" He was still quite the raven, after all, and he now had a future mate to impress.


End file.
